Toothbrush



H. E. RICE, Jn.

TOOTHBRUSH.

[APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 1921.

Patented Jan. 17, 1922.

2 SHEEIS-SHEET 1.

H. E. RICE, JR.

TOOTHBRUSH.

APPLICATION HLED MAYB. 1921.

1,404,141. v Patented Jan. 17,1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

N Q a m J -irs- {IIIIIII/Il/l/l/ I Early Z. Z5509, J7: F1 L 397hZj mD-+UNITED STATES HARRY EDGAR RICE, m, 01' SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

roo'rinmisn.

Application filed Kay 9,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY EDGAR RICE, Jr., a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Springfield, in the county of Clark and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toothbrushes;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in appliances for brushing andcleansing the teeth, and it is intended to provide a convenient packagesuitable for carrying 1n the baggage or even in the pockets of the user,which will comprise a suitable brush adapted for use in cleansing theteeth, and a suitable container for coacting with said brush forsupplying tooth paste, or a suitable viscous or semi-viscous cleansingcompound to the roots of the bristles in the brush; and also inproviding a convenient shield for covering the bristles of the brushwhen not in use, and in keeping the same clear of dust or other foreignmatter, and at the same time preventing the wet bristles from moisteningthe baggage or the clothin of the user.

y invention will be more fully understood after reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which like parts are indicated by similarreference symbols throughout the several views, and in which Figure 1 isa side elevation of the complete device with the brush cover applied,parts being broken away.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1, parts beingbroken away.

Figure 3 is an end view as seen from the right of Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 shows a longitudlnal sectional along the broken line 44 ofFigure 2, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 5 shows a longitudinal section along the broken line 55 of Figure1, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 6 shows a section along the line 66 of Fig. 1, and looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Figure 7 shows a section along the line 7-7 of Fig. 1, and looking inthe direction of the arrows.

Specification of Iiett eirs Patent.

.perimposed portions A and A Patented Jan. 17, 1922.

1921. Serial No. 488,196.

a section along the line similar view to Figure 1,

except that the brush and cover are re- 4 moved;

Figure 10 is a detail showing the brush removed from the handle; and

Flgure 11 is a detail showing the brush cover attached.

In the drawings the hollow handle of the brush is shown empty of thepaste, and the other parts are shown in the position that will beassumed when the container is empty.

The device consists primarily of three parts: (1) a combined handle,brush holder and container A; (2) a brush B detachably connected to saidholder; and (3) a cap C removably mounted over said brush and enclosingthe bristles when the brush is not in use. In addition to these partsare the several operating parts and fastening means which will behereinafter described.

The combined handle, brush holder and container A is preferably made oftwo suwhich may be made of celluloid, or the like, secured together inany convenient way along the line aau to form a hollow structure inwhich the several parts hereinafter mentioned are assembled before thetwo parts A and A are secured together.

It will be noted that the combined handle, brush holder and containercomprises a body portion having at the forward end a brush holderprovided with suitable guides to receive thebrush, and also providedwith valve chambers and with passages for the plastic mass, while therear end is hollow and adapted to contain the charge of plasticcomposition; the whole body portion being substantially straightaxially.

The interior of this container is provided with a main chamber A", whichmay be filled with paste by means of the opening a closed by the cap D.Projecting down into this chamber from the part A is a bear ing aengaging the end 6 of the screw E, which screw carries on its outer enda milled head E, and is provided with a set collar 6 engaging in anannular groove in the rear end a of the handle A. This screw E thereforerotates in the bearings e and e,

.but without longitudinal movement.

Mounted on the screw E is a nut F which is shaped to fit the interior ofthe chamber A, and is fed forward or. drawn backwards by turning thehead E of the screw E. The forward travel of this nut F is limited bythe set collar 0 carried by'the screw E, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Forward of the chamber A the container is provided with an auxiliarychamber A connected by the passages a and a to the valve chambers A andA, see Fig. 5. In

these valve chambers are mounted suitable sliding "valves G and G, whichare pressed forwards by the springs H and H. An intermediate ferrule,such as g, maybe provided between the s rings and valves, respectively,as showrjin Fig. 5, or this ferrule may be omitted if desired. I

The valve chambers A and A xare pro:

vided with inclined ports a. and a, through which the aste exudes asitis fed to the brush, as wlll be hereinafter described.

f The brush B consists of a hollow body ortion B provided on itsinterior with a -shaped port into which slides the front end of thebrush holder, which holder is T- shaped in cross section at its forwardportion, asshown in Figs. 6 and 9, being provided on each side withgrooves a? terminatingv in the shoulders a. These shoulders serve asstops to limit the rearward travel of the brush body, and the brush bodyis held in place on the holder by means of a spring latch I mounted in asocket a. of the brush holder, and ressed into the engagin positionshown in ig. 4 by the spring I.

The brush is'provided with bristles K, arranged in suitable groups, andthe back of the brush body is provided'with ports I) and b whichregisterwith the ports a and a already described and permit the exuding of thepaste under pressure from the interior of the container to the base ofthe bristles, as will be hereinafter described. The arrangementashitherto described ditcloses an operative structure which could beused as such; but for convenience intransportation or stora e, or thelike, I provide a detachable cap which is arranged to fit over the bodyof the brush and is held in p llace by a screw M, having a milled headThis screw preferably passes through not only the back of the brushbody. but also engages in the .body. of the container, as shown in Figs.5 and 6. This screw not only serves to lock the cap in place, but alsoserves as an additional lock to prevent the brush from being removedexcept when the screw is released.

In order to prevent the screwfrom being lost I preferably provide abearing rib a in the cap, through which the stem of the screw passes, asshown in Flg. 6, and I sepaste, replace the screw cap ';;cure on thescrew a set collar m which will paste either before or after the cap hasbeen removed, and this may be done by taking off the screw cap D,turning the screw until the nut F is towards the rear of the cha nherA", and then filling the chamber A and the contiguous passages with thepaste. a

The valves Gand Gr will normally remain in the-position shown in Fig. 4,when the container is filled with paste. Afterv the.

container is nearly or partly filled with vice 1s ready for use. 7

The brush may be' used as an ordmary tooth brush without supplying anypaste at all if desired; but if desired to supply paste to" the brushturn, the. milled headE in the direction to move the nut F forward; Thiswill.v force the paste to exude through the passages a. and a pressingback the valves Gand G, and exposing the ports a and a. The paste willcontinue to exude through these ports andv through the correspondingports in the brush so long as the pressure i: maintained on the paste bythe nut F. A: soon as pressure is released on this nut the springs H andH will force the valves (1? and G backwards, closing the ports andpreventing any further exudation of the paste. Thus it will be seen thatby greater or less turning motion imparted to thehead E. more or lesspaste may be applied to the D and the debase of the brush. Moreover,this supply of paste will be automatically cut off when the pressureapplied to the paste is released. It will be noted that there will bevery little tendency to use more than the desired quantity of paste, andvery little tendency to waste the same, and the apparatus will be alwaysready for use so long as the supply of paste is a ined in' the, chain-vit her A.

It will be a very simple matter to fill said chamber, or partly fill it,with paste from a tube or other package such as are now. well known inthe art.

1 It will be noted that the device is arranged so as not toex'ude eitherpaste or drip water, or soil the garments or the ba'ggage of the user. 1

It will be noted that the paste, being held in an airtight container, isnot likely to harden or oxidize when in use, or to lose the effects ofany volatile ingredient, such as ammonia, or the like,-which may be contained therein.

I prefer to provide more than one brush for each handle so that thebrushes maybe changed from time to time for the comfort of the user, orto supply a new brush for one that is worn or partly 'worn; thus, forinstance, it may be desired to use either a hard brush or a soft one; inany event the handle would usually outlast several brushes. 7

In order to remove the brush from the handle it will only be necessaryto press down the latch I and slide the brush out, when a new one may beinserted in its place.

It will be noted that the device is particularly sanitary when either intransport or in use.

These and various other advantages of the herein described constructionwill readily suggest themselves to those accustomed to the inconvenienceand annoyance of the apparatus now generally in use for cleansing theteeth.

It will be obvious thatvarious modifications might be made in the hereindescribed apparatus, and in the construction, combination andarrangement of parts which could be used without departing from the bspirit of my invention; and I do not mean to limit the invention to suchdetails except as Igarticularly pointed out in the claims.

aving thus described my invention What I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States is 1. In a tooth brush thecombination with a body portion comprising a hollow handle and a head,the said head being provided a with a passage therein, and a portopening laterally from said passage, and the sai head being alsoprovided on the rear edges with longitudinally disposed guide grooves,of a channeled brush body having upwardly and inwardly directed lonitudlnal flanges slidably mounted over said ead and engaging said guidegrooves, said brush body being provided with bristles and with a portbetween said bristles adapted to register with the port in said head, acheck valve mounted in said passage and normally closing said port, anddispensing means in said handle, substantially as described.

2. In a tooth brush the combination with a body portion comprising ahollow handle and a head, the said head being provided with a passagetherein, and a port opening laterally from said passage, and the saidhead being also rovided on the rear edges With longltudina ly disposedguide grooves, of a channeled brush body having upwardl and inwardlydirected longitudlnal flanges slidably mounted over said head andengaging said guide grooves, said brush body eing provided with bristlesand with a ort between said bristles adapted to register with the portin said head, a check valve mounted in said passage and normally closingsaid port, a spring pressed latch adapted to be depressed when saidbrush is bein attached to said handle, and to lock said head to saidhandle when the ports aforesaid are in registration, and dispensingmeans in said handle, substantially as described HARRY EDGAR RICE, JR.

